Level With Me Doc

Discussion (14) ¬

The idea for this joke (The iron lung) came out from the left field and it’s HILARIOUS! But seriously, if I need to use that device and they decided to use it as a table I will annoy them by spouting puns about organs.

For what it’s worth, the thing is cylindrical for mechanical reasons — a cylinder withstands changes in pressure much better than a flat surface. If they made them square, eventually they would start “oilcanning” — going “clunk, clonk” with each breath.

I have as part of my technological history collection and example of prototype iron lung replacement made by the General Tire and Rubber Company. It was like a big clear suction cup that strapped on from and back of the chest leaving arms and legs free.

It worked and looked cheaper but I think it never caught on because “air exists between the seal and patient’s body,” which means it would have sounded like: long-slow-inhale…thrrrrrppppptttttttt, long-slow-inhale…thrrrrrppppptttttttt, long-slow-inhale…thrrrrrppppptttttttt.

Imagine a ward of 40 out of synch fart machines going 24/7. History would have been different. “Grandma, you were a nurse during the worst of the polio epidemics, what was that like….why are you laughing?”